Dear Rolling Stone,
Wow. For once, this rather outspoken person is a bit speechless. So you decided to push the envelope from edgy to controversial… But you’re biggest mistake was falling off the radar when the nation revolted. Let’s face it – you glorified a domestic terrorist. After 46 years of service, you couldn’t be so naïve to not expect any type of backlash. Quickly take a few minutes out of your day and check out Sarah’s post from last week about using social media as a crisis management tool. As I’m writing this you have almost 8,500 comments on your Facebook page, tied to your August cover, and you have yet to respond, once. Are you that ashamed that you’ve run for the hills?
I’m sure this wasn’t done with ill intent. I would have to believe that your intentions were to not hail The Bomber. At this point, I’m positive you didn’t have any sort of action plan in place to respond to an enraged fan base. That’s why we always make sure that we and our clients are prepared for any situation, simply because THIS is what happens when you aren’t prepared for these types of situations.
Fortunately, we’re here to help. Take Sarah’s advice: “Crisis communication is an incredibly important aspect to your social media marketing. With proper management, you can not only listen to what your customers are saying online, but you can respond with strategic messaging that can help to stop a problem before it happens. If you aren’t implementing a crisis communication plan, you’re already one step behind.”
Instead of hiding, you need to be listening and strategically responding. The absolute worst thing you can do is nothing. What say you, Rolling Stone?
